The music production’s synergy is one of the indicated ways to break new ground. The sum of ideas can be a driving force for truly beautiful and differentiated creations. And when a collaboration works, it happens again. That’s exactly what the Colombian Dulus and the Mexican Alberto Hernandez do in their second collab, on the “Moon Fall” EP, for the Brazilian Words Not Enough. This label specializes in Organic House and Downtempo sounds.
Connect with Alberto Hernandez: Instagram | Soundcloud
Connect with Dulus: Instagram | Soundcloud
The synergy between them marks celestial and sublime worlds with more introspective and nocturnal approaches. Everything is adorned with percussions and layers that promote a deep dive into the music, like a dream. We’ll be talking with both of them to understand their journey and what they’re bringing to electronic music.
Hello, Dulus and Alberto. How are you? Thank you for this interview. Well, first of all, could you tell us about how each of you got into electronic music?
Alberto: I first got into electronic music after one close friend showed me some music by Swedish House Mafia, later I started digging more into underground music until I came across Deep/Organic music.
Dulus: Hello, I got into electronic music at a really young age. I used to watch a lot of DJ set videos on Youtube and I got hooked on them. I started asking questions about how they were doing such crazy mashups or edits live, and in the end, I found out they were made in the studio. That’s when I discovered Ableton and started making mashups/bootlegs, until I started producing my own stuff.
In the art of production, it’s not uncommon having artists choose their favourite style, which they perform better in. Could we say that your favourite subgenre is Organic House? How was this discovery, did you produce different types of music before getting to it?
A: I remember that the first “Organic” track that I listened to was “Loopynes” by Lee Burridge and Lost Desert, later I started searching through more music in the same style. And yes, I produced many genres before Organic House, like “Groove House” and some Industrial Techno.
D: I discovered the whole “Deep/Underground” scene by going to parties. I then discovered the Organic House genre and I started trying to replicate sounds and produce my own tracks. I make a lot of different styles of music, mainly melodic, but I make Minimal/Deep Tech and Organic House mainly. I try to keep all my productions somewhat melodic.
With the global pandemic, we could say that lighter, progressive, melodic and even slower sounds have gained attention in the electronic music community. Do you agree?
D: 100%. I wouldn’t say just because of the pandemic… To be completely honest, I consider all of the Deep House subgenres the most mature style of music in Electronic/Dance Music, but it was getting traction long before the pandemic in my opinion.
And how’s the workflow of producing together? How did your collab happen?
D: I was releasing free tracks on Soundcloud or just posting tracks I was making… Alberto messaged me one day and then it all just started flowing. We don’t know each other in person but we have become good friends and we talk about a bunch of stuff on a daily basis. Our collabs are pretty simple, I mainly send Beto ideas for feedback or whatever, and sometimes he’ll just ask if he can collaborate on the track, and then I’ll just send the files, he does his thing, sends them back, I do my thing on top of his work and we’ll have a finished track. It goes both ways, Alberto might send me a track idea and I’ll ask if I can chip in :).
A: We really enjoy working together. We first started sending each other some basic ideas of tracks and if the other one likes it, we finish it.
Let’s talk a little about Moon Fall. It’s a beautiful journey in 2 acts. Comment a little on each track, how was the idea’s conception, who made what?
A: “Never enough” was my idea and I showed it to Dulus, he liked it and added more melodies and ear candies to the track. He always kills it with his melodies.
D: Thanks a lot! ‘’Never enough’’ was a project that Alberto started, I really liked it and I asked if I could join in. He sent me the files and I added the violins and melodies in the break and the final drop, as well as some other ear candy stuff. ‘’Moon Fall’’ was my starting project, I sent it over to Alberto and he added his signature pads, as well as some new percussion.
You signed the 10th release of Words Not Enough, what’s the relation with the Brazilian label? Was it random or did you have any previous contact?
A: Actually Peve (who has released on WNE) told me great things about the label, so I talked to Dulus about sending the tracks to Words Not Enough.
D: It’s a funny thing, I enjoy making music but I hate sending out records to labels for signing, so Alberto basically handled the whole thing with the record label.
Now for this new phase, of the pandemic transition (we hope that’s the final phase), what do you expect on dancefloors and people’s behaviour?
D: I hope it’s the final phase too haha. But seriously, I believe it’s going to come back stronger. I have been getting gigs for a couple of months and you can see people really wanted the dancefloors back.
And to wrap it up: we know that when artists get it right on the collabs, the tendency is for that to repeat itself. Are there new music plans between you two?
A: Yes, we have upcoming music on All Day I Dream, and we are confirmed and working on an EP for the Hoj’s label Tale and Tone.
D: I will never stop collaborating with Alberto. It’s easy, it’s smooth. He adds the things I need and takes away the things I don’t.
Thank you!
Interview done by Maria Angélica Parmigiani
